Fertilizer and new fruit trees?

[Someday isle]

I planted 10 pear trees in a couple of my food plot areas this spring. I know many people recommended not fertilizing the trees the first year. My question is with regard to fertilizing my plots. I’ll be using the same cereal grain mix again this year (LC mix) and was wondering if I should fertilize the plot at all or if it will damage or harm the pear trees. I planned on fertilizing and seeding the fall mix around Labor Day. I don’t have soil test results yet this year but I know it’ll need plenty of lime again too.

 

[Skelly]

I planted 10 pear trees in a couple of my food plot areas this spring. I know many people recommended not fertilizing the trees View attachment 18389the first year. My question is with regard to fertilizing my plots. I’ll be using the same cereal grain mix again this year (LC mix) and was wondering if I should fertilize the plot at all or if it will damage or harm the pear trees. I planned on fertilizing and seeding the fall mix around Labor Day. I don’t have soil test results yet this year but I know it’ll need plenty of lime again too.

I planted 5 crabs this past winter. This spring I applied 1/2 cup of 10/10/10. Almost 5 months in between planting and fertilizing.

I have new growth anywhere from 6” to almost 12” on those trees. I understand not fertilizing right away due to burning the roots, but based off my experience the trees respond well to fertilizer in the first year.

 

[Don'tWorryIHuggedItFirst]

It's more about letting the tree establish a good root system in the first year. If you fertilize you will get a lot more above the ground growth. As long as you keep the nitrogen as low as possible you should be fine.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I haven't used fertilizer for apples, crabs & pears in the first year they were planted. They've all grown well the first year - not going crazy, mind you - but established their root systems and made some branches. But we lime and fertilize our food plots which are right next to the main orchard. It hasn't hurt our trees at all. In year 2, I start sprinkling 10-10-10 around the trees and I've been doing that for 5 years now. I get good growth, but not crazy growth.

Everyone's soil is different. I don't think fertilizing your food plot will harm your trees. I'd put it on. I wouldn't concentrate it around the trees though, like any of us might do once the trees get established in year 2 and beyond. Then you're doing it specifically for the trees.

 

[Jhoss]

I think my "graftling - nursery" is similar to your situation. All seedlings or 1 foot commercial rootstocks...young young treelings is what I'm trying to say. I kind of hedge my bets that the ground they are in is depleted of nutrients (an old corn field), clay under about 6 inches of top soil then sand underneath for at least 6 feet. I have to mulch or the cracking crust in the hot summer sun is detrimental. I mix half wood chips that have been composted for years (blue spruce), this looks now mostly like a chunky dirt and the other half is bedding from my chicken coop (pine shavings/flakes). It's pretty rich stuff, makes a fine mulch for sure. I actually refrain from putting chicken bedding directly into the graftling-nursery - heeding the advice from many on this site. Once I plant them out I HEAP chicken bedding around them. I could see in your nutrient starved situation (those big trees suck the nutrients big time) loads of chicken bedding being useful but probably hard to come by / manage. I throw it out there just as a "here's what I do".